Raging River Petroglyph
A longtime Fall City resident brought this rock carving to the attention of the Fall City Historical Society in September 2007. It is found on the horizontal top surface (approx. 5 x 6 ft. in size) of a large rock on the east bank of the Raging River between Fall City and Preston. He does not remember the carving being there when he was young. He says the rock was only about a foot out of the water at that time. Due to more rapid river flow caused by the dikes built along the river, the rock now stands over 5 feet above (summer) river level.
The carving is good sized; the fish figure is approximately 40 in. long. Only when the normal debris on the rock surface is swept away does it become visible. The grooves outlining the figures are shallow and are visible because dirt has accumulated in them and a dark moss grows firmly in the dirt.
There seems to be no information available on the age of the carving. In approximately 1997, the carving was shown to a woman (name unknown) on the faculty at UW who was an expert on such carvings. She came to photograph it and later some "rubbings" were done on the rock, possibly by students. A report came back from her sometime later, saying that she could not say either way whether it was of considerable age or a more recent carving. Dick Kirby reports that he had an archeologist in his Middle School class one year, and one of the kids asked about this carving. The archeologist seemed to know about it. The name of the archeologist is not known. Matt Mattson of the Snoqualmie tribe said he had seen the carving, and that had been the source of debate and controversy in the tribe, probably about its age and origin.
If you know anything more about this carving, please contact the Historical Society at .
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